Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a prominent member of the GOP senate caucus and Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Friday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday after experiencing symptoms he called “consistent with longtime allergies.” Several days earlier, he also reported testing negative during a visit to the White House.
In a statement, Lee said he would be isolating for the next 10 days, which frankly may not be long enough given the virus sometimes afflicts people for unpredictable periods of time. But Lee’s admission—particularly after he said he had tested negative just days earlier—leaves a trail of unanswerable questions behind him. For instance, had he already been exposed to the coronavirus when he was at the White House Saturday attending the Supreme Court nomination announcement for Amy Coney Barrett? Was his system already incubating the virus, which can take up to 14 days to cause symptoms? And who else might have been exposed as he walked around the Rose Garden greeting people while carrying his mask in his hand?
As Dr. Vin Gupta explained on MSNBC Friday, Lee’s earlier negative test could mean he had already been exposed to coronavirus, was presymptomatic and incubating the virus, “and then it took some time for the test to actually turn up positive” for COVID-19.
But what is perfectly clear at this point is that the virus has been walking around at the White House and now back on Capitol Hill too, where Lee met with Barrett on Tuesday and attended a Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting on Thursday. So even as COVID-19 tests have initially come back negative for Barrett (who had reportedly already contracted the virus this summer and recovered, according to anonymous sources), White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Bill Barr, and others, it’s no guarantee that the virus isn’t on the move among a group of high-level Washington lawmakers, administration officials, and their staffers.
“Everyone on that flight should immediately go into quarantine for the next 10-14 days,” Dr. Gupta said of those who flew on an Air Force One flight to Minnesota Wednesday that included Hope Hicks. Hicks reportedly started experiencing symptoms on the flight and quarantined on the way back before ultimately testing positive. Trump also traveled to Bedminster, New Jersey, on Thursday for a high-dollar fundraiser before announcing early Friday morning that he and the first lady had tested positive. Trump reportedly did not wear a mask at the fundraiser nor on the plane ride back to Washington, D.C.
Lee was also pictured maskless and standing barely a foot apart from Barrett during his Tuesday meeting with the nominee. The Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Lee participated in on Thursday was also attended by multiple senators from both sides of aisle, including Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, John Cornyn of Texas, Ted Cruz of Texas, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Josh Hawley of Missouri. Democrats shown at the hearing included ranking member Dianne Feinstein of California and Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Chris Coons of Delaware, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. Vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris of California is a member of the committee but appears not to have attended Thursday’s hearing.
One person who was not exposed to Lee was former FBI Director James Comey, who testified remotely for a separate judiciary panel hearing Wednesday on the Russia investigation. Comey, a colon cancer survivor, told the committee he did not want to testify in person, fearing exposure to the virus from maskless members. The GOP-controlled committee responded by insisting he testify in person, according to the The New York Times‘ Mike Schmidt. Comey refused and instead gave his testimony offsite, including answering questions from Sen. Mike Lee.
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